Borders, planning and policy transfer: historical transformation of development discourses in the Finnish Torne Valley

ABSTRACT

European Union spatial policies have become a key institutional context in which to study policy transfer processes in European border areas. These policies are, however, only the most recent part of these transformation processes which raises a need for more historically sensitive approaches. An historical perspective is important, since border regions are historical processes with particular path-dependent development trajectories and power structures. This paper aims to contribute to the discussion concerning the transformation of European border regions by looking at the policy transfer of regional development discourses in the Finnish Torne Valley. The study material consists of strategic development documents produced by the Finnish border municipalities and the municipal-based co-operation organizations from the 1930s to 2013. The examination, based on critical discourse analysis, shows that the transformation process is driven by national trends and the dominant planning discourse. Nevertheless, the particular border setting and local discourse on ‘united Torne Valley’ have also intertwined with political and economic processes during different time periods.

KEYWORDS:

• Border region
• regional planning
• discourse
• policy transfer
• state
• Torne Valley

Acknowledgements

The author wishes to thank Prof. Anssi Paasi and Dr Eeva-Kaisa Prokkola for their valuable comments on previous drafts. The author also acknowledges the support of the CoE RELATE. Moreover, the author highly appreciates the constructive comments of the anonymous referee.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. While the annual reports issued by the FCTVM and the CTV reflects a chronological consistency throughout the 1930s until 2013, it is important to highlight that no annual reports are available (documents are reported as missing) from the CTV between 1987–1999. These reports have been replaced by meeting minutes from annual general meetings of the CTV between 1996–1999 (the meeting minutes between 1987–1995 are reported as missing) in order to complement the material and analysis.

Additional information

Funding

This research is funded by University of Oulu, EUDA-DP.